As fired up as I am about our offense, defense and coaching, I can't get around the thought that special teams play will hurt us this year.
Consider:
Long snapper and holder both with zero experience, paired with a kicker with waxing and waning confidence. I'm not too young to remember the Skinner long snapping debacle. The consistency of Sobeski over his tenure was incredible. Did he have even one bad snap? I believe Corbin Jenkins had only one bobbled snap in his several years. Not many even recognize those names because they were rock solid for Catman. The consistent snap accuracy and get-off time will be sorely missed. The blocked FG during spring were due to both slower get-off times and low kick trajectory.
Lakip had a so-so spring but was a superstar relative to the next in line Spence, who looks nothing like the number one prospect out of HS. I think schollies for kickers straight out of HS should be banned but I digress. Swinney didn't have a lot of praise for the PK game this spring and was for the most part silent on the matter.
While Pinion's KO touchback stats were actually middle of the pack in the ACC, his ability to place the ball inside the 20 with hang time will be missed. Teasdall has done a good job thus far, but hang time will be less than we are accustomed to, leading to more returns caught in stride, stressing Pearman's coverage strategy. There is no long ball kicker on the team. KO will be shorter with less hang time and the coverage team will again be tested.
I'm calling a 10-2 regular season, with both losses falling squarely on ST. It's the only obvious weakness I see.
Consider:
Long snapper and holder both with zero experience, paired with a kicker with waxing and waning confidence. I'm not too young to remember the Skinner long snapping debacle. The consistency of Sobeski over his tenure was incredible. Did he have even one bad snap? I believe Corbin Jenkins had only one bobbled snap in his several years. Not many even recognize those names because they were rock solid for Catman. The consistent snap accuracy and get-off time will be sorely missed. The blocked FG during spring were due to both slower get-off times and low kick trajectory.
Lakip had a so-so spring but was a superstar relative to the next in line Spence, who looks nothing like the number one prospect out of HS. I think schollies for kickers straight out of HS should be banned but I digress. Swinney didn't have a lot of praise for the PK game this spring and was for the most part silent on the matter.
While Pinion's KO touchback stats were actually middle of the pack in the ACC, his ability to place the ball inside the 20 with hang time will be missed. Teasdall has done a good job thus far, but hang time will be less than we are accustomed to, leading to more returns caught in stride, stressing Pearman's coverage strategy. There is no long ball kicker on the team. KO will be shorter with less hang time and the coverage team will again be tested.
I'm calling a 10-2 regular season, with both losses falling squarely on ST. It's the only obvious weakness I see.
